Opinion: This isn't funny and it's not political
Welcome to the mountains and valleys called the coronavirus pandemic…and I’m not speaking about the graphs, showing trends of patient numbers, deaths or those vaccinated. I’m talking about real people -- the neighbor next door, the family who sat next to you at Sunday services, the folks sitting on the bar stool next to you and the people at the next table at your favorite restaurant.
If you’ll recall, the three vaccines being used now came about fairly quickly, to the credit of former president Donald Trump. The programs producing millions of shots-in-the-arms across the country were to the credit of President Joe Biden. Both men and their families received both injections of the vaccine.
You’ll also remember how, when the vaccines were first available, you had to sign up -- often a week ahead of time -- and, at first, those appointments were hard to come by. And, along with that, state leaders were against the so-called “vaccine passports.”
However, as we learned at the beginning of the summer, you cannot board an international flight to some countries if you don’t have your card, showing you’ve been totally vaccinated.
More than 25,000 U.S. patients who likely had COVID-19 were in hospitals Saturday, up 24.1% from a week earlier. And 6,198 adults with COVID-19 were in intensive-care units, up 25.7% from a week earlier. The vast majority of new cases and hospitalizations involve people who are not vaccinated, health experts say.
What the experts say about going back to wearing a mask in public:
Many health experts say that may be a smart move, especially when you're going to be indoors with people who may be unvaccinated and unmasked.
1. "I would," said Epidemiologist Helen Chu of the University of Washington. "I haven't stopped masking indoors.
"Everyone makes their own risk assessment," she said. But with Delta cases increasing, "it would be prudent to start doing indoor masking again," she says, particularly as we head into fall.
2. Masking may especially make sense in places with rising rates of infection, said Bill Miller, a physician and epidemiologist at The Ohio State University.
“It's clear that unvaccinated people are not following the recommended indoor-masking guidelines, he pointed out. "You go into a grocery store and 95% of the people are unmasked when we haven't come close to that level of vaccination," Miller said.
Miller says he continues to wear a mask in public places, even though he's fully vaccinated. "I know that I am extremely unlikely to get seriously ill. But I also know that if I am exposed, I may become infected and pass it on to others," he added.
3. Health researcher Ali Mokdad of the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation said he would like the CDC to reinstate a mask mandate nationwide, given the rise in cases.
"This is the right and scientific thing to do," he said. "That's the only way we can send a signal to the public in the United States that we're not out of danger and we can encourage people to go and get the vaccine."
Taking the vaccination isn’t a sign of weakness. You’re not making a political statement, and in most places, it is free. For more information, contact the Hays County Health Department, 401-A Broadway Dr., San Marcos, 78666, or go to any neighborhood pharmacy.
If you’ve decided against getting the vaccine, these may be your last weeks on the planet. It’s a real thing. Just ask any COVID-19 survivor…and if you’re not spending the less than 30 minutes it takes to be vaccinated, you may want to take that half-hour to pray for the more than 600,000 families who have lost a family member to the pandemic.
Editor’s note: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and theirs alone, and do not necessarily reflect those of The Dripping Springs Century News, its employees or employer, or its partners.